Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway
No. 95 Dumont JETS Camaro ZL1 Notes:
· THROWING IT BACK TO KAHNE’S BEST SEASON: Dumont JETS wanted to have another amazing throwback paint scheme this season for Kasey Kahne to celebrate the 2006 season where he earned six poles & a career-best six wins (three of which came after starting from the pole). Kahne also earned 12 top-5’s and 19 top-10’s that year in what statistically was one of his best seasons in his Cup series career. LFR is proud to partner with Dumont JETS to commemorate a great paint scheme from Kahne’s winningest season as we once again incorporate his old “flying 9” into the No. 95 Camaro ZL1 for the Darlington Throwback Weekend.
· KAHNE BY THE NUMBERS: In 15 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Darlington Raceway, Kasey Kahne has an average start of 11.1 and an average finish of 15.7. He’s completed 5,387 of 5,445 (98.9 percent) career laps and has led for a total of 353 laps. Kahne has earned four poles, three top-five and five top-10 finishes at the historic 1.366-mile track.
· RACE INFO: The Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile) begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 2nd. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.
Kahne’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Darlington:
Date Event: S F Laps Status
03/21/04 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 1 13 293/293 Running
11/14/04 Southern 500 13 5 367/367 Running
05/07/05 Dodge Charger 500 1 3 370/370 Running
05/13/06 Dodge Charger 500 1 21 366/367 Running
05/13/07 Dodge Avenger 500 5 20 367/367 Running
05/10/08 Dodge Challenger 500 42 22 366/367 Running
05/09/09 Southern 500 7 23 366/367 Running
05/08/10 Southern 500 10 20 366/367 Running
05/07/11 Southern 500 1 4 370/370 Running
05/12/12 Southern 500 3 8 368/368 Running
05/11/13 Southern 500 4 17 367/367 Running
04/12/14 Southern 500 22 37 323/374 Crash
09/06/15 Southern 500 15 12 367/367 Running
09/04/16 Southern 500 18 7 367/367 Running
09/03/17 Southern 500 23 24 364/367 Running
Kahne’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Darlington:
Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles
Cumulative 15 0 3 5 4
Kahne’s 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats:
Starts Wins Top-5’s Top-10’s Poles Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
24 0 1 1 0 30 25.9 22.8
Kahne’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats:
Starts Wins Top-5’s Top-10’s Poles Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
528 18 93 176 27 4,678 14.5 17.7
From the Driver’s Seat:
Kasey Kahne: “My favorite part of the weekend at Darlington is the race itself. I think just trying to run 500 miles against the wall there, without any mistakes, makes for a challenging race. There’s a lot that goes in to being fast at Darlington and having a chance to be there at the end of that race, and to me, it’s one of our toughest races of the year. Darlington can also be one of the most enjoyable races too though, and of course if you finish it and gave it everything you had, it feels pretty good to be able to finish 500 miles at that track. If you get a “Darlington stripe” during the weekend, I always feel like it’s because you made a mistake. Getting a stripe can happen so easily there that it’s something you regret as soon as you do it, and you wish that you wouldn’t have lost that touch of focus.”
From the Pit Box:
Jon Leonard: “In my mind there are three major challenges to Darlington, but the first and foremost concern in my mind is tires. Darlington is probably the most aggressive tire surface we go to, so tire falloff is usually huge (in the order of 3-3.5 seconds per fuel run, compared to Bristol for example, which is not even 1 second). Keeping tires on our Chevy is a major key to having a good car at Darlington. The second focus is trying to match the two ends of the racetrack. Since both ends of the track are so different, sometimes it’s tough to really get your car balanced from end-to-end there. The third aspect of Darlington that we focus on is keeping our Dumont JETS Chevy off of the wall so that we don’t get one of those famous ‘Darlington stripes.’ Keeping the body of our car without any damage, as well as keeping our No. 95 off the tires, is important for the overall speed and performance. It’s almost not an ‘if’ but a ‘when’ in regard to the possibilities of making contact with the wall, so being prepared for that is another important part of our weekend preparation. Darlington is so unique with its track shape and tire wear that it really isn’t like anywhere else we go to on the circuit, which is why it’s a place everybody wants to win at. Similar to the Daytona 500 or Brickyard 400, Darlington is a historical staple in NASCAR, and the Southern 500 is such a coveted win to achieve. These last few years with Darlington doing the throwback weekends, it makes it feel like we’re racing back in time with all the cool paint schemes. I’m really looking forward to running Kasey’s special 2006 throwback scheme this weekend thanks to our friends at Dumont JETS.”
No. 95 Dumont JETS Camaro ZL1 Team:
Driver: Kasey Kahne Crew Chief: Jonathon Leonard
Car Chief: Ben Leslie Spotter: Doug Campbell
Engineer: J.R. Houston Hauler Driver: Damon Lopez
Shock Specialist: Tim Lambert Mechanic: Bill Mares
Mechanic: Matt Kimball Mechanic: Ryan Dextraze
Tire Specialist: Tony Ramierz Jackman: Jonathan Willard
Fueler: Ryan Dextraze Rear Changer: Cory Baldwin
Front Changer: Chris Winchell Front Carrier: Justin Kirby
About Dumont GROUP:
Dumont GROUP is a full-service aircraft charter, sales, maintenance and parts organization headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware with a FAA approved 135 certificate, and EASA and FAA approved 145 MRO at the New Castle Airport (KILG) and Central Illinois Regional Airport (KBMI) in Bloomington, Illinois. Dumont GROUP’s divisions include Dumont JETS, Dumont MRO, and Volo Direct.
